In present day wireless communication systems, there is a constant and ever expanding need for large bandwidth capabilities.
In a receiver arrangement, it is possible to dedicate exactly one receiver line-up for each received band. In a system where bandwidth is not a major issue, this solution is prevalent. In order to increase the bandwidth, it is possible to duplicate the receiver and in this way increase the bandwidth in a linear way, i.e. one extra portion of bandwidth per added receiver.
This is the straightforward way, but also a costly way to implement a multi band receiver. Today, receivers for base stations have one dedicated chain of components for each received band. The antenna mast gets crowded with heavy equipment, in the same time it is difficult and expensive to find alternative sites for base station equipment.
The limited board space and power consumption (PDC) put a limit on how many receivers that can be fitted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Also the total cost of the receiver will increase in a linear fashion for each added band using traditional receiver architecture, i.e. one dedicated receiver for each band.
Consequently, there is a need for methods and arrangements in receivers enabling supporting larger bandwidth requirements, without necessitating increasing board space and power consumption in the receivers.